You come home after a long day and there’s only one thing on your mind: lounging on the couch, wrapping yourself with a blanket and kick back with your cat on your lap. The awaited moment arrives, and as your cat is kneading your belly – quite busy making biscuits – there is something that instantly winds you down: your cat purr.
This commonplace ritual, so ordinary for anyone who lives with a cat, is full of mystery. To this day, ethologists aren’t entirely sure how purr is produced, nor why it is made!
Cats purr when they make biscuits, that’s for sure. They purr when they’re relaxed, when they’re grooming themselves, when they’re happy, or when they’re little kittens nursing from their mother… but they also purr when they’re anxious, sick, when they’re in pain or under massive stress.
Some scientists suggest that the frequency of a cat’s purr could be a natural healing mechanism: these vibrations might help cats feel better if they’re injured, and what’s more, these vibrations could even have therapeutic effects on those around them.
However, as we already know, cats don’t only purr when they’re injured, but also in moments of peace and relax, so for now this is still just a theory.
Moka Sleeping and purring
Not just cats. Purring gets complicated.
All big felines, except for cheetahs and ocelots, purr.
What isn’t as well-known or obvious is that other animals do purr too. Just to mention a few, raccoons can make a sound quite similar to purring when they’re happy and so do dolphins, who make a vibration-like sound when they’re relaxed.
However, because of the number of situations in which it occurs, the purr of cats remains the most complex and mysterious, and the only one for which scientists still do not have an answer.
If you don’t have a cat nearby to share purr moments with, or if you simply need a to hear some purring, here are two options for you:
- Find a moment of comfort and ease while you design your own cat purr.
- Play Stars in the Trash demo and just let Moka rest a little in the game. You might find a nice surprise…
Remember that you can find Stars in the Trash on Steam. You can add it to your wishlist and be the first to live Moka’s adventure or stay tuned to this meowsletter to learn more things you didn’t know about cats.
The latest from Valhalla Cats and things I found interesting this week:
- Did you know there’s street cat feeders all across China, fitted with cameras and dispensable kibble that you can generously donate to some silly little street kitties? Select a feeder and have fun!
- I know there are many fans of the Warrior Cat saga in the Valhalla Cats family, so I wanted to share this video with you. Thanks Toni Antonio for sharing it on our Discord server!
Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed the read.
Have a wonderful day,
Jose
